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Nintendo 3DS celebrates first birthday, sells 4.5 million consoles in the US
Nintendo of America has lifted the lid on how many 3DS handhelds were purchased in the first twelve months of life in the US of A. 4.5 million of the devices have been taken home since March 27th of last year, surpassing the 2.3 million classic DS units sold between 2004 - 2005. Whilst the company's playing coy with how many units were sold worldwide, given that the Japanese arm of the company recently passed the five million mark, we can reasonably expect Ninty Nintendo's outlook to be healthier than it has been for a while. Head on past the break to read the official line on all matters three dimensional and cast your mind back to a simpler time, when games could only travel in the dimensions that existed behind the glass.
IRL: Logic3 PowerSleeve, HP Folio 13 and a trio of Nintendo handhelds
Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment. This week's IRL is a bit of a mixed bag, with tales of gadgets well-used and those deployed for pure pseudo-science. In two paragraphs, Mat Smith sums up his experience with three generations of Nintendo DS handhelds, while Dan Cooper attempts to explain why he's still using a gadget he obviously hates. And Dana, our resident laptop reviewer, tries leaving the 'ole six-pounder in the office and going home to an Ultrabook instead.
Engadget's holiday gift guide 2011: gaming
Welcome to the Engadget Holiday Gift Guide! We're well aware of the heartbreaking difficulties surrounding the seasonal shopping experience, so we're here to help you sort out this year's tech treasures. Below is today's bevy of curated picks, and you can head back to the Gift Guide hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the holiday season. Ah, the holiday season. That special time of year when we give our loved ones the new hotness of the video game world, and then promptly exploit their over-excited reactions to propel them into unwanted YouTube fame. Even if your familial relations don't have the stuff to become this generation's "N64 kid," you can still kick a few rad toys their way just for the love of it. And if you're having trouble finding the perfect gift for the gamer in your life, we're here to help. Head past the break to take a peek at Engadget's 2011 Holiday Gift Guide for video games. Not finding what you're looking for? Skip on back to our 2011 Back to School Guide for bonus gift ideas.
Nintendo drops DS Lite to $100, makes it easier to (Mario) party
Hot on the heels of a Wii price drop from about two weeks ago, Nintendo has announced that it'll be lowering the DS Lite's price to $100 (from about $130) starting on June 5th. The big N claims that its pushed over 48.9 million DS handhelds to consumers in the U.S., adding that many of the Mario DS titles have also sold well into the millions. To highlight the achievements, six of the best selling Mario themed games for DS will be getting a red makeover to their packaging -- see above right -- for easy pickin's at your favorite retail shop (no discount apparently). It may not have 3D, but the drop in price, added with less eye strain, and a long lasting battery should be enough to make the 3DS a little jealous.
Memorex intros Nintendo DS game-changing case, other not-so-game-changing accessories
The Nintendo DS line has had many redesigns up to the present 3DS, but one thing that hasn't changed are the tiny, easily lost cartridges. Enter Memorex's $20 Universal Game Selector Case, announced as part of its gaming accessory lineup for E3. The UGSC stores up to three games and hooks up to the cartridge port on any DS, letting you swap between them using a signal routing switch. We've seen cases similar to this in the past, but Memorex's take is the first to support 3DS titles as well. Based on the renders, the unit looks to make for a weird fit and some noticeable extra thickness (10.5mm to be exact), especially on the DSi XL, but hopefully we'll get a better idea of how it feels in hand at E3. From a functionality perspective, the case does seem rather useful for those with forgetful tendencies, if a bit underwhelming for anybody else. Memorex will also be displaying its new third-party PS3 and Wii motion controllers at the E3, which are viewable in the gallery below, and there's a press release with details after the break. %Gallery-124348%
DS Lite drops to $99 on June 5
The 3DS just got more competition. Not from Sony or another competitor, but from another, now impulse-buy-priced, DS. Nintendo just announced that the DS Lite has been officially dropped in price from $129.99 to $99.99, effective June 5. Perhaps the old SKU at the old price was what GameStop was clearing out? The same month, six Mario games (New Super Mario Bros., Mario Kart DS, Super Mario 64 DS, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem!, and Mario Party DS) will be re-released in red boxes, to " make it easy for [consumers] to find their favorite Mario titles." Not that anyone ever had trouble finding any of these -- Nintendo announced that more than 9.25 million copies of New Super Mario Bros. have been sold in the US. No price drop was announced for the games. Just fancy new boxes.
Something isn't rite with this DS lite
Tales of counterfeit DS games are nothing new, but 1UP's Jeremy Parish believes he's come across a counterfeit DS Lite. With the news that the handheld will soon disappear from retail shelves, Parish set about procuring an Apple Green unit. Ordering what appeared to be a legitimate system from a reputable eBay seller, Parish received the unit weeks later only to discover several small but significant flaws ranging from misaligned text to a warped GBA slot. The verdict: this was not a stock Nintendo DS Lite, though it does play DS and GBA games with no problems. While Parish believed it to be a complete counterfeit, some 1UP readers have pointed out that it could simply be a broken DS that someone repaired, outfitted with an aftermarket replacement shell and sold as new. Either way, let the story stand as a warning to anyone looking to procure a DS Lite as its lifespan comes to a close.
Keepin' it real fake: a Nintendo DS Lite that gets it (mostly) DS right
The death of Nintendo's DS Lite getting you down? Good news: it may have long ago been eclipsed by the DSi and 3DS, but the svelte portable system is still being made -- by someone, somewhere. And you can get a pretty good price on the thing, if you don't mind a few flaws -- like the above bootleg picked up a 1UP editor who though he was getting the real deal from eBay. As soon as the thing arrived in a corrugated cardboard box with pixelated text, it was clear that he had been KIRFed -- hardcore. On top of the aforementioned packaging red flags, the portable has some minor cosmetic flaws, like discoloration, a pockmarked surface, and uneven rubber pads. What's really amazing about this DS, however, is what its manufacturers got right -- it plays DS and GBA games, including, fittingly, pirated titles. The police have reportedly called Wario in for questioning.
GameStop no longer stocking Nintendo DS Lite
GameStop has confirmed to Joystiq that the mega retailer will no longer stock the Nintendo DS Lite. A company spokesperson informed us that in order to drive sales of the Nintendo 3DS and "take advantage of this unique product," along with the DSi and the DSi XL, the company will not restock the DS Lite. We contacted Nintendo to ask if it's still manufacturing and shipping the DS Lite to other retailers. Charlie Scibetta, senior director of corporate communications at Nintendo of America told us, "Nintendo DS Lite is still available at most retail locations. Consumers will be able to find Nintendo DS Lite without much trouble."
Select Walmart stores offering $100 credit toward 3DS with old DS trade-in
This Sunday, the 3DS launches in the US and, to celebrate the occasion, US-based megastore Walmart is offering quite the deal for anyone who lives in one of a dozen states. When purchasing the new handheld, consumers in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and South Carolina will have the option of trading in their used DS for a $100 credit towards their 3DS purchase. If they've got two old DS systems laying around, both can be traded in for $200 towards a 3DS, but that's as high as Walmart's willing to go. The trade-in program will start this Sunday with the 3DS launch and continue through April 30. This promotion is in-store only -- sorry, no online orders.
Nintendo 3DS good for only 3 to 8 hours of play time per charge
Remember those all-night Mario Kart DS and Advance Wars marathons? Looking to recreate the magic with the 3DS? Bring a wall charger. Nintendo's just unveiled its best-case scenario figures for the 3DS' battery life, and compared with its predecessors, it ain't pretty. The official numbers are three to five hours playing per game, or five to eight if playing an older DS title (and up to three hours 30 minutes to fully recharge). So... three to eight hours under the most ideal circumstances. Let's look at the family album: the DS is 10 to 14 hours, DS Lite 15 to 19 hours, DSi 9 to 14 hours, and DSi XL 13 to 17 hours (all figures also from Nintendo). Can't say we're entirely surprised; Haus of Mario Chief Satoru Iwata's own words back in October were "it is inevitable that Nintendo 3DS will be a device which requires more frequent recharging than Nintendo DS." Think of it as an extension of the warning label. You can never be too careful, you know.
DS Lites for $75 at Radio Shack stores
If you need an inexpensive but delightful gift, and if you don't mind going into a Radio Shack, you may be able to get a great deal on a DS Lite. The retailer has discounted the ubiquitous handheld to $74.97 in-store, in Metallic Rose, Metallic Silver, Crimson/Black, and Cobalt/Black. At that price, you can't expect every store to have a bunch of systems in stock, so be sure to check online using the "Find it in store" button on the website. Strangely, even the variants labeled "Not available in stores" on each product page did have units available in stores once we put our ZIP code in and checked.
Walmart launches Black Friday barrage early, $69 Blu-ray player, $89 DS Lite
Sick of waiting outside in the cold on the wee hours of Black Friday, only to get trampled on the way in to the store when the doors open? Walmart has a better solution: they'll open the doors at midnight. Yes, the sales start at the first minute of Black Friday, and the full list is after the break, but to get the really good stuff you'll have to hang around until 5:00am. That's when a Magnavox Blu-ray player (presumably the oft-discounted NB500) will go for $69, with $10 in VUDU credits thrown in for good measure. Or, you can get yourself a Nintendo DS Lite for $89, which is a very solid deal. Sure, it doesn't do 3D, but who says games need depth?
Bayer Didget blood glucose monitoring system does double-duty as a DS game
Until we reach the time when tattoos make checking blood glucose levels cool, we're going to need another way to keep kids with diabetes healthy. And hey, kids love videogames, right? Bayer's Didget is based on the company's Contour glucose meter, but instead of connecting by USB it's shaped like a Game Boy cartridge, enabling it to slot into a Nintendo DS or DS Lite. When kids upload their scores to a custom game (the less than thrilling sounding Knock 'Em Downs: World Fair) they'll unlock new characters and items, but there's one fatal flaw in this plan: the system necessarily isn't compatible with the DSi (or its XL brother) and we're guessing the big cartridge slot isn't due for a comeback in the 3DS. In other words, this meter is on a fast-track to obsolescence.
Nintendo DSi XL review
Since Nintendo first asserted sole domination over the handheld gaming market with the release of the paperback-sized Game Boy in 1989, the company has striven time and again to make its pocket systems smaller, meeting fantastic financial success along the way. Nintendo did it with the Game Boy Pocket, the Advance SP, the Micro, the DS Lite and again ever so slightly with the DSi -- the last even at the expense of backwards compatibility and battery life. Now, for the first time in the company's history, it's made an existing platform bigger, with questionable reasons as to why. Does the Nintendo DSi XL squash its predecessors flat? Or is Nintendo compensating for something? Find out inside. %Gallery-89058%
Nintendo slipping DS handhelds into schools, McDonald's training sessions
What's a global gaming company to do once they've soundly dominated the portable market? Why, covertly get the DS into schools and restaurants, of course! Shigeru Miyamoto, who created undercover gems like Donkey Kong and The Legend of Zelda, recently informed the AP that his company would be rolling the DS out "in junior high and elementary schools in Japan starting in the new school year," though few details beyond that were available. We do know, however, that this invasion into the education sector is more than just a fluke, with Miyamoto noting that this very area is where he is "devoting [himself] the most." Of course, the Big N already has a nice stable of mind-bending titles, but getting actual teachers to embrace the device in the classroom would be another thing entirely. In related news, select McDonald's eateries in Japan will be using the DS to train part-time workers, though mum's the word on whether the Cooking Mama franchise will be cashing in here.
Nintendo loses DS flash cart case in French court
According to a post on Maxconsole, a court in Paris has just dismissed a lawsuit filed by Nintendo over the use of flash carts on the DS. Apparently, the gamemaker was attempting to halt the use of the cartridges due to their ability to circumvent copy protection and allow for pirating of software, but a judge in France took a decidedly different view. As the carts are often used for homebrew and DIY projects, the court holds that owners of the console should be able to develop software much as a license holder of Windows might. Furthermore, the article claims that the court also deemed Nintendo's strict control of development "illegal" (Maxconsole's words), and said that development of software for the system shouldn't be hamstrung by the need for proprietary kits. This ruling follows a recent Spanish case in which the court dismissed Nintendo's lawsuit over flash carts claiming that while the add-ons do violate DRM, they also legitimately extend the functionality of the console.
Easy Piano bringing keys to the DS Lite in 'early 2010'
We've got a sneaking suspicion that the DS Lite will be old ancient news by the time Easy Piano hit the market, but those who've learned to be content in life (and have somehow managed to resist the urge to snap up a DSi in place of their older handheld), have probably been hunting for this date. Valcon Games has just announced that its piano-teaching title (and the highly comical / interesting 13-key accessory) will be landing in North America in "early 2010," but it didn't go so far as to fess up to an MSRP. Not like it matters -- you know you're totally lining up to snag this during a midnight launch, regardless of how many heirlooms are forced onto Craigslist.
David Bowie, Styx, Yellowcard & others join Band Hero
We'd like to congratulate Devo, David Bowie and Marvin Gaye for reaching one of the highest highs in the music industry. That would be appearing in a game with no fewer than three Taylor Swift songs: Band Hero. The artists' featured hits are part of the latest batch of announced tracks -- all of which you can find after the break -- for the tweenybopper spin-off. Also, do we have any volunteers to dive into the belly of Band Hero and rescue the totally awesome "In a Big Country" Saving Private Ryan–style? It ... it doesn't deserve this.
DSi-enhanced Idolm@ster is region-locked
Since the DSi was first announced, it's been difficult to precisely determine its regional limitations. Rumor spread that everything would be region-locked -- that all Japanese games would be incompatible with an American DSi. That's not true. So far, only DSiWare has been proven region-locked, as a function of region-specific DSi Shops. In addition, Nintendo has said that DSi-exclusive games would be region-locked. But you can still play any normal DS game on any DS system, including the DSi.NeoGAFfer t3nmilez provides an account that helps clarify the DSi region-locking situation. He imported The Idolm@ster Dearly Stars, which has extra camera features when used in a DSi, and it didn't register in his American DSi; though it worked in an American DS Lite and a Japanese DSi. From this, we can infer that (if his DSi isn't busted) DSi-enhanced games are regionally encoded just like DSi-only games. So if you want to play The Idolm@ster, make sure you have either a Japanese DSi or a DS Lite.[Via GoNintendo]
